Separation of pyrimidine deoxyribooligonucleotides according to length and composition using thin-layer chromatography on deae-cellulose.

A procedure has been developed for the fractionation of pyrimidine deoxyribo-oligonucleotides, PynPn+1, according to length and composition using ascending thin-layer chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The separation of oligonucleotides according to length (n=1-7) into individual isopliths was carried out using a linear 0-0.35 M sodium chloride gradient in 0.01 M sodium acetate buffer of pH 5.1-5.3 and 5 M urea. Then the oligonucleotides of individual isopliths were separated according to composition using the same gradient of sodium chloride in 0.01 M sodium acetate or sodium citrate buffer of pH 3.2. The procedure can be used for rapid fractionation (2-3 h) and serial determination of the frequencies of pyrimidine sequences differing in length and composition in DNAs of various origin. The procedure can be used for both preparative and analytical applications. It was employed to study the distribution of 5-methylcytosine in pyrimidine isopliths of some DNAs.